Grand Junction, CO
Categories:
Tactics Used |
|
---|---|
Reverse stings | ✓ |
Shaming | ✓ |
Auto seizure | ✓ |
Community service | ✓ |
Public education | ✓ |
Neighborhood action | ✓ |
SOAP orders | ✓ |
John school | ✓ |
Letters | ✓ |
Cameras | ✓ |
Web stings | ✓ |
License suspension | ✓ |
Grand Junction is a city of about 48,000 residents located in western Colorado, near the Utah border and situated along Interstate 70. Prostitution and sex trafficking are well-documented local problems. For example, in 2008, a well-known brothel, Fuji Oriental Massage, was seized and later auctioned by the IRS. The forfeiture occurred after law enforcement determined that the property had been used in the commission of crime, for which the brothel owners and operators were also convicted. Local sex trafficking cases include a 2012 case in which 14 people were arrested for involvement in a human-trafficking ring that brought teenage girls to Grand Junction and other Colorado cities for prostitution. The leaders were charged with trafficking of children, pimping of a child, and inducement of child prostitution. The four key traffickers allegedly recruited five girls, all under the age of 18, to perform acts of prostitution for a six-month period in 2012. The girls were brought to hotel rooms in Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Denver, Boulder and Lakewood to use drugs and alcohol and perform sexual acts for money, according to the indictment. Eight additional people named in the indictment were charged with providing a place for the incidents of prostitution to occur and/or driving the girls to places where they were exploited. In addition to such evidence of prostitution and child sex trafficking, and rape of exploited minors, Grand Junction has also documented one case of a prostituted woman who was murdered in 2007. She advertised through online ads, and the person who was last known to have seen her alive was a sex buyer.
In their efforts to address such serious problems stemming from the local commercial sex market, police have arrested several sex buyers in at least two investigations. For example, in 2013, police arrested a man on four charges, including patronizing a prostituted child, soliciting for child prostitution, pandering of a child and sexual assault on a child. The man was arrested on allegations he arranged to pay $100 for sex at a Clifton motel with a 14-year-old girl, who was pimped via Craigslist by another man. While perhaps not traditional reverse sting operations, the investigations, arrests, and the release of identities of at least three buyers of sex with children represents proactive attempts to hold at least some johns accountable, and perhaps to deter others.
In October 2015, five men were arrested in Mesa County in an investigation targeting Internet solicitation of child prostitution. In April 2019, law enforcement personnel arrested 10 people over three days in a multi-agency undercover operation targeting people seeking to purchase sex with children. The operation involved undercover officers posing online as youths offering to have sex, or adults arranging for children to have sex with suspects. Police placed ads on sites including skipthegames.com and Cityxguide.com. While the ages listed were 19 as required by the sites, the ensuing conversations leading to several arrests involved discussions arranging to have sex with children. Some of the conversations involved undercover personnel posing as mothers making their daughters available for purchased sex, with the age of the daughters ranging between 12 and 14 years. Police worked with two hotels that agreed to partner on the operations, and some of the arrests were made on hotel premises after arrangements were made to meet suspects there. Six people were arrested for allegedly making such arrangements with undercover officers. Three were issued misdemeanor summonses for prostitution. One more person was arrested on a warrant for failure to appear, in connection with a recent arrest by the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office involving an alleged sexual assault on a 14-year-old victim. The man was also held on suspicion of violating a protection order by communicating with the victim. The names, ages, and charges associated with all of the arrested individuals were posted in news releases. Charges included soliciting for child prostitution, criminal attempt of sexual assault on a child; soliciting for child prostitution, internet luring of a child with intent of sexual contact/exploitation, pandering a child, patronizing a prostituted child, drug possession and distribution, and weapons possession by a repeat offender. Collaborating on the operation were the Grand Junction and Palisade police departments, the Colorado State Patrol, Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Mesa County District Attorney’s Office.
Key Partners
- Grand Junction Police Department
- Fruita Police Department
Key Sources
- Web-Based Reverse Stings with Shaming:
- “Online Contact with Girl Leads to Arrest,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, December 6 2009.
- https://www.westernslopenow.com/news/local-news/10-arrested-in-online-sex-predator-operation (2019)
- https://kool1079.com/10-arrests-in-mesa-county-internet-sex-predator-operation/ (2019)
- https://denver.cbslocal.com/2019/04/07/mesa-county-sexual-predator-arrests/ (2019)
- https://www.westernslopenow.com/news/local-news/six-in-court-for-underage-solicitation (2019)
- https://www.westernslopenow.com/news/local-news/child-prostitution-suspects-back-in-court (2019)
- https://www.kjct8.com/content/news/Local-law-enforcement-FBI-arrest-10-in-child-sex-predator-sting (2019)
- Arrest of Sex Buyers with Shaming:
- “Child Prostitution Charges Land Grand Junction Man in Jail,” ABC/KJCT-TV 8, February 12 2014.
- “Child Prostitution Charges Land Grand Junction Man in Jail,” NBC/KKCO-TV 11, February 12 2014.
- “Two Men Accused of Selling, Buying 14-Year-Old Girl for Sex,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, February 12 2014.
- http://www.koaa.com/story/30232176/five-arrested-in-mesa-county-for-child-prostitution
- Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation in the Area:
- “Online Contact with Girl Leads to Arrest,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, December 6 2009.
- “14 Indicted in Child Prostitution, Human Trafficking Ring; 4 Named as Ringleaders in Statewide Operation, State AG Says,” ABC/KMGH-TV 7, January 30 2012.
- “Child Prostitution Charges Land Grand Junction Man in Jail,” ABC/KJCT-TV 8, February 12 2014.
- “Child Prostitution Charges Land Grand Junction Man in Jail,” NBC/KKCO-TV 11, February 12 2014.
- “Two Men Accused of Selling, Buying 14-Year-Old Girl for Sex,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, February 12 2014.
- “FBI Investigates Prostitution at Local Massage Parlors,” ABC/KJCT-TV 8, June 17 2014.
- “New Charges in Sex-Trafficking Probe,” Grand Junction Sentinel, September 29 2015.
- “More Arrests Made in Child Prostitution Investigation,” Grand Junction Sentinel, October 9 2015.
- Documented Violence against Individuals Engaged in Prostitution in the Area:
- “Man Convicted of Raping Hitchhiker without Victim’s Testimony; Prosecutors Were Unable to Find Victim,” ABC/KMGH-TV 7, June 20 2006.
- “Wyo. Man Gets 72 Years for Rape and Kidnapping,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, July 19 2006.
- “48 Hours Mystery: The Search for a Young Mother Exposes a Double Life,” CBS News, June 10 2008.
- “Mesa County Case of Escort Death Gets New Investigative Push,” Denver Post, September 30 2013.
- “Client Arrested 7 Years after Mom with Secret Life Disappeared,” New York Post, November 22 2014.
- Background on Prostitution in the Area:
- “Online Sex Ads: Women or Girls?” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, June 24 2008.
- “Fuji Massage Busted for Alleged Prostitution-Related Crimes,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, November 20 2008.
- “Accused Grand Junction Pimp Made Thousands, Police Say,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, December 2 2008.
- “DA: Fuji Johns Unlikely to Be Charged,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, December 3 2008.
- “Grand Junction ‘Johns’ Leave Credit Card Trail,” Aspen Times, December 3 2008.
- “Parlor Sting Months in the Making,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, December 6 2008.
- “Case Stronger against Fuji Oriental Massage Owner, Prosecutors Say,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, December 26 2008.
- “New Ordinance to Regulate Grand Junction’s Massage Parlors,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, February 4 2009.
- “For Ex-Fuji Customers, It’s Call Cops or Be Called, Police Say They Have 1,000 People They Want to Talk To,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, May 5 2009.
- “Man Guilty as Pimp for Ex-Fiancée’s Prostitution,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, July 8 2009.
- “Man who Acted as Pimp for Girlfriend Gets Six Months in Jail, 10 Years’ Probation,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, September 1 2009.
State | Colorado |
Type | City |
Population | 48425 |
Location |
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